Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Another study in Blues

Steller's Jay, digiscoped @ Cuyamaca State Park, CA

On a recent trip to the San Diego Bird & Wildlife Festival, an early AM trek into the nearby mountains of Cuyamaca State Park offered some fun and exciting birding opportunities. A cold front had just passed and despite the latitude, the temperatures on this March morning hung just above freezing at 33 degrees F! A stiff wind blew and birds and birder alike were hiding from the blistering effects of the damp air heavily laden with patches of fog and passing clouds.

The diffuse morning light helped to showcase the many shades of blue I'd enjoy this morning on the mountain. One of these stunners was the lovely Steller's Jay which I was all too happy to digiscope in the image above. The lovely cobalt blue chest and dark slaty-black head were highlighted by the electric blue "racing stripes" that ran up either side of the bird's steep crown. I've been busy enough that I've had precious little opportunity to put the new Leica APO Televid 82 mm scope through it's paces, so this was a welcomed field trial. The fact that I had to endure a wonderful morning of birding to accommodate this is just the cross I have to bear sometimes. It's always work, work, work with me! ;p

The subtle hues of blue showing on the lovely female Western Bluebird above contrasted nicely with the warm brown back and buffy orange breast. Slight tinges of blues were evident on the bird's slaty cap as well. So it was clear that color rendition is not an issue in low light conditions and the level of details visible around the eye and on the individual feathers was stunning as well. If only all work was so enjoyable!...

While the female Bluebird offered subtle hints to its true name through its plumage, the stunning males left no doubt. Even someone completely oblivious to birding and proper bird names, would stand a fare chance of stumbling across this bird's name by accident. The blues on this male Western Bluebird absolutely popped when backlit in diffuse lighting created by the slight overcast. The deep burnt orange tones on the breast and back were a marvelous compliment as well. Note the rich new breast feathers growing in the breast compared to the old worn and more faded feathers surrounding these.

The wind was uncomfortable and I sought the shelter of a dense stand of Manzanita bushes in the lee of a hillside. Apparently many of the birds had the same idea as Juncos, and a small band of Juncos fed intently in here. Mountain Chickadees, Pygmy Nuthatches, and woodpeckers were about as hummingbirds sped by doing high speed tail chases. The latter appeared to be mostly migrant Rufous Hummingbirds but I wasn't certain. I never did see one perched or even flying very well so they could have been local Allen's as well. Not sure which would be more likely in this habitat at this time of year honestly!

On another day, I would have been intent to track these down and make a definitive identification but after a long stretch of extended "office time" without many outdoor experiences of late, I was really just enjoying theair, the mountain and of course the spectacular views of the numerous birds that were cooperating. As I said, there were many woodpeckers about and I tallied 5 species here to include: Hairy, Nuttall's, Acorn, Northern "Red-shafted" Flicker, and Red-breasted Sapsucker. Unfortunately despite excellent close up views of many of these I was never able to get an in focus image as they were all feeding like mad and in the low light conditions, I always wound up getting an image of a woodpecker body with a big blur where the head should be. After a few unsuccessful attempts though I did get wise and spin the mode dial on my compact camera to "movie" and captured some fun digital videos.

Even the nuthatches sought respite from the bitter winds and came down to sun on the ground when the clouds broke near 9 AM. This bird offered yet another hue of blue with its blue-gray back. Despite enjoying the few AM hours immensely, it wasn't too long before it was time to turn tail and head back to the venue at the San Diego Bird Fest and open the booth for displaying. I reluctantly made my way to my rented car and wound my way back toward San Diego's warmer temps on scenic Mission Bay. Right outside the venue was one last opportunity to capture yet another shade of blue on the crown of the established exotic Lilac-crowned Parrot below with a marvelous blue sky behind. Oh if all work days could be like this one!...